Hand truck



Jan. 5, 1932.

D. M. WATSON ET AL.

"HAND TRUCK Filed Oct. 7, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSES Jan. 5, 1932.D. M. WATSQN ET AL 1254435293 HAND TRUCK Filed Oct. 7, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES k l INVENTOR- 1 mimi M14/mam WM, (L Mge/viogwoamzmog,

Patented Jan. 5, 1932 UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE Y DAVID M. WATSON, OFARDSLEY, AND vGONZALO C. MUOZ, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR-S TO THE AMERICAN PULLEY COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA HAND TRUCK Application filedOctober 7, 1930. Serial No. 486,878.

' them to handle extremely heavy loads, and to support dierent kinds ofloads effectively,-

, all without making the truck itself unduly heavy. How these and otheradvantages can berealized through the invention will appear from thedescription hereinafter of one preferred form ofembodiment.

In the drawings, Fig. I is aside view of a hand truck convenientlyembodying our invention.

Fig; II is a plan view of the truck.

Figs. III, IV, and V are detail views, show ing certain parts insection, taken as indicated by the lines and arrows III-III, IVe-IV, andV-V in Fig. I.

The truck here shown includes a frame 9 11 at the other end, andintermediate legs 12,

. 12, on which the truck may rest with its frame in horizontal orslightly sloping position. It

also has an upward-sloping nose piece 13 at the end beyond the wheels10, 10. The frame 9 comprises longitudinal side members or sills 14, 14,of channel section, with bead-embossed lower edges, united by theU-shaped nose piece 13 and by cross members 15, 16, 17, 18, also ofchannel section. `With the cross members 15, 16, 17, 18 are associatedintermediate longitudinals 19, 19, of channel section, which cosoperatewith the cross members to form an openwork cradle or bottom for thetruck.

As `shown in Figs. II, III, IV, and V, the cross members 15, 16, 17, 18have their ends flattened by outward bending of the channel ianges, andseated in .depressions in the sills 14, 14, to which they aresecured bya couple of fastenings 20, 20 each, through the channel webs. Theintermediate longitudinals 19,

, 19 are similarly flattened at their intersections with the crossmembers 15, 16, 17, 18, and secured thereto by fastenings 21, so as tointerconnect the cross members. IVhile the crosssmembers 15 and 16 aresubstantially straight, so as to afford fully distributed support to aflat-sided box or package resting on the truck, the cross-members 17 and18 are concaved, as shown in Figs. III and IV, to accommodate the'convexity ot a sack, bale, package or barrel,-the member 18 beingconcaved more than the member 17. The ends 22, 22 of the nose piece 13extend rearward along the tops of the sills 14, 14 over the-ends of thecross-members 18 and 17, and are secured to the sills by the samefastenings 2L), 2O that secure said crossmembers.

As shown in Figs. I, II and IV, the wheels 10, 10 are mounted on an axle23 whose ends are secured to V-brackets 24, 24 of flat bar metal,attached to the sills 14, 14. The legs of each bracket 24 arecylindrically concaved inward, for greater rigidity, and extend upwardinto the channelled side member 14; its .upper ends are bent outward toterm flat feet 25, 25, which are fastened to the bottom of the channelweb by the same tastenings 2O that secure the cross-members 17, 18. Thehorizontal mid-portion 26 of the bracket 24 is concaved upward toaccommodate the axle 23, which is clamped to the bracket by adownward-concaved clamp piece 27, secured by tastenings 28, 28 throughthe bracket portion 26. As shown in Fig. IV, each of the wheels 10, 10consists of a sheet metal rim and conical web, which is riveted at 29 toa iiange on a hub 30, mounted on the axle 23, with roller bearings 31,between an inner thrust shoulder or iiange 32 and a removable cutershoulder or washer 33. Preferably, the wheels 10, 10 are located insidethe brackets 24, 24 and the sills 14, 14, rather than outside them.

Referring, now, to Figs. II, III and IV, it will be seen that oblongflat plates 35 are shown on the truck frame 9 extending fore and aftbetween the ends of the cross-members 17, 18, with their outer edgeslocated at the inner sides of the sills 14', 14,- and, indeed, abuttingagainst the inner edges et the nose-piece ends 22, 22 whereby they coactwith the side members or sills 14, 14 in bracing the truck againstangular distortion. These plates 35, 35 correspond in transversedimension to the straight, horizontal portions of the cross-members 17,18 at either side et their concave mid-portions- The ends of theseplates 35, 35 are shown overlapping l, the -webs of. the cross-members17, 18 and secured thereto, by fastenings 36, 36 at the outer corners ofthe plates adjacent the sills 14, `14,7and tastenings 37, 37 at theirinner corners. These plates 35, perform several 'l important functions:they brace and reinforce the truck frame 9 (and the whole truck) againstl angular distortion in a horizontal plane ,they overlie the Vwheels 10,10 and pro. [tect them from contact or entanglement vwith the truckload;and they adord attachment for directly sway-bracing the trucktransversely. For this latter purpose, diagonal braces 38, 33 extendfrom the inner margins of the plates 35 downward'and inward to themid-portion of the axle 23. As shown in Fig. IV, these braces 38, 33 areformed by` a flat bar fastened to the axle 23 at 39 and bent y upward ateither side ol: this fastening, with Ythe ends bent outward and fastenedto the plates 35, 35 at 41, 41. is transversely trussed, andthe axle 23is also positively secured in case ot' loosening of the clamps 27 27.

As shown in Fig. l, each kof the truck legs 12, 12 is Veshaped, andormed of flat bar metal suitably bent. v The upright portions Vof each`loot are cylindrically concaved inward for greater rigidity, and theirupper ends are bent outwardto allord hat feet or ears 42, 43, whicharesecured to the sills 14,

14 bythe same tastenings 2O that secure the' cross-members 15, 16. TheYear 42 lies directly against the inside of the channel web (Figs. I andIV), while the wooden handle 11 intervenes between the ear 43 and thechannel web, and is thus clamped by the fastenings 20., 20. The legs 12,12 are braced transversely by diagonal sway braces 44, 44 of hat barmetal, attached .to the rear upright portions oli the legs by'fastenings 45, V45, and to the cross member 15, at its intersectionswith the longitudinals 19, 19, by the fastenings 21, 21 that secure saidparts 15, 19 toene another. These braces 44, 44 are twisted 90O to bringthe upper ends into a plane to be bent so as to ilie flatagainst thewebs of the channel 15. l

`The lower end of each leg 12 is shod with a Lbent sheet metal wearplate 46, welded therefastenings 40, consisting ot` rivets throughspacingsleeves 51.

It will be understood that any of the fasfscribed, the combination with,Thus the truck trame in, each of uw. channelled side members 14, 14 hasits flanges' braced'by suitably located spacing stays or 1. In a handtruck of invention, we

character deside members having handles at their rear ends, bracketsdepending from said side members and a transverse axle mounted thereon,with wheels the . on said axle inside said brackets, and crossmembersinterconnecting said side members, one to either side of said axle;1ofoblong plates extending fore and aft over said wheels betweenthe ends ofsaid crossl members, and secured to said cross members and coacting withsaid side members to brace the truck against angular distortion, anddiagonal braces from the inner margins of said plates downward andinward to the mid-portion of said axle.

2.In a hand truck of the character described, the combination with sidemember havinghandles at their rear ends, and an upstanding nose memberinterconnecting their forward ends, the end gortionsof said noseextending rearward along the tops of said side members Aand-being eachsecured thereto at a plurality of'points', and cross membersinterconnecting said side members with their ends interposed and securedbetween the latter and the ends of said nose piece, of oblong platesextending fore and att over said wheels between the'ends of said crossmembers and securedthereto with their outer'edgesengaged againsttheinner surfaces of the ends of the nosepiece, so as to brace the truckagainst angular distortion.

In testimony whereo'f,.we.have hereunto signed our names atPhiladelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this 2nd day of October, 1930. y

. GONZALO c. Munoz.-

